Diabetes strongly linked with erectile dysfunction

Jul 31, 2017 06:00 am

Could diabetes be the No. 1 risk factor for erectile dysfunction?

A new analysis of past research finds the sexual disorder to be very common among men with diabetes.

The study of data on nearly 90,000 men found those with diabetes are 3½ times more likely than men without the disease to have difficulty maintaining an erection, according to the report in Diabetic Medicine.

"Erectile dysfunction, due to its evident presentation, can play a crucial role in early diabetes mellitus diagnosis and acts as an alarm bell for other silent complications," said study co-author Damiano Pizzol, coordinator of the Operational Research Unit of Doctors with Africa Cuamm in Beira, Mozambique.

Because erectile dysfunction can be a sign of the often silent cardiovascular issues that go along with diabetes, doctors should take the sexual complaint as a cue to screen for both diabetes and heart disease, the study team writes. - REUTERS